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Saturday, November 7, 2015

Sorry, Media, You Won’t Destroy Ben Carson

Let's begin with two propositions: There is a difference between an admirable man and a perfect man, and there is a difference between "vetting"and viciousness. The collective goal of the liberal media is now clear â€” to take one of America's most admired and brilliant men and somehow transform him into a dishonest, stupid extremist. The vetting of Ben Carson has become vicious, and to what end? An admirable man has been exposed as imperfect.

The first round of attacks, focusing on Carson's alleged extremism, failed utterly. Under fire â€” for claiming that it would be better if victims rushed mass shooters rather than hiding, for asserting that Hitler would have been less likely to accomplish his aims if the German people had been armed, and for comparing the debate over abortion to the debate over slavery â€” Carson refused to back down. A conservative public, wearily familiar with politicians kowtowing to media--generated outrage, took notice.

Rather than deal directly with Carson's statements, the media twisted his words, scurrilously asserting that he was "blaming the victims"of school shootings and claiming that German Jews alone could have stopped the Holocaust (when he'd plainly referred to the "German people,"not just German Jews). As for the abortionâ€“slavery comparison, even Vox noted that conservatives have been making that argument for decades. The comparison is controversial, certainly, but hardly "extreme.â€

While the media no doubt still believe Carson to be extreme, they quickly learned that their attacks only increased his popularity with a PC--averse conservative public. In the midst of these fake "controversies,"he shot to the top of Republican polls, where he now (slightly) edges out Donald Trumpin the RealClearPolitics average.

If he's not extreme or stupid, is he dishonest? Is it possible that a man known for his rags--to--riches life story, his generosity, his humility, and his deep and lasting concern for the poor has a character problem? After all, in Carson's famous autobiography, Gifted Hands, he said that he'd been offered a "full scholarship"to West Point. Politico says that Carson now admits that story was "fabricated."Their proof? He never applied to West Point. But Carson didn't say that he applied, only that he'd been offered a "full scholarship."How can he "fabricate"a claim he never made?

Carson's campaign manager says that Carson was introduced to "folks from West Point by his ROTC supervisors. . . . They told him they could help him get an appointment based on his grades and performance in ROTC."What, exactly, is the story here? If it's simply that he should have described military officials' expressions of enthusiasm with more precision, then this is truly a tempest in a teapot.

#share#His account, in fact, resonates with my own experience. Many years ago I was "offered"an ROTC scholarship before I even applied. After speaking with officers familiar with my academic record, they told me I would receive a full academic scholarship, and that the application was a mere formality. My teenage self certainly took their statements as an "offer,"and I wouldn't have applied without their word. (I filled out the forms and was formally accepted, but declined in favor of a better scholarship elsewhere.)

At the same time, CNN's effort to call into question Carson's story about his childhood anger issues is both weak and malicious. The network interviewed ten people from his neighborhood about 50--year--old incidents that Carson claims they never witnessed, and now peddle a story raising doubts about claims in Carson's biography. What? Is it now the case that CNN can interview ten people about decades--old life events that didn't happen to them and now breathlessly proclaim a "scoop.â€

Hovering over the feeding frenzy is the absurd media spectacle of mainstream reporters claiming they're merely "doing their job"by diving into 50--year--old details of Ben Carson's childhood. The same reporters who were not just incurious about the details of Barack Obama's background in 2008 but actively hostile to those who asked reasonable questions about his relationship with admitted domestic terrorist Bill Ayers and his years of religious instruction from Jeremiah "God Damn America"Wright.

At the end of the day, what are we left with? An admirable though imperfect man who rose from abject poverty to the pinnacle of one of the most challenging professions in the nation â€” all while never forgetting his roots, maintaining grace and humility even as he earned riches and honors. In fact, his life story â€” and his character â€” would make him one of the most inspiring Americans ever to occupy the Oval Office. But he's a direct threat not just to leftist narratives regarding race and class but also to the leftist stranglehold on the black vote. And for that reason alone he must be destroyed.

A "high--tech lynching"is again underway, but if recent history is any guide, the Left's attempt to strike down Carson will only make him stronger. The media can launch its attacks, but it cannot change the fundamental facts: Ben Carson is a good and decent man, an American hero.

Socialism

Union: Obama threw workers 'under the bus' in Keystone decision

The main union for construction workers is accusing President Obama of throwing them "under the bus" by rejecting the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) is one of the few labor unions that broke with the majority of Democrats and supported the project, which Obama rejected Friday after a seven-year review.
"We are dismayed and disgusted that the President has once again thrown the members of LIUNA, and other hard-working, blue-collar workers under the bus of his vaunted 'legacy,' while doing little or nothing to make a real difference in global climate change," Terry O'Sullivan, the union's general president, said in a statement. "His actions are shameful." The group's statement cited a State Department report that Keystone could reduce greenhouse gas emissions when compared with oil transportation by rail.
"But facts apparently mean as little to the president as the construction jobs he repeatedly derided as insignificant because they are 'temporary,' " O'Sullivan said. "Ironically, the very temporary nature of the president's own job seems to be fueling a legacy of doing permanent harm to middle- and working class families

The Federal Bureau of Investigation processed a record number of background checks in the month of October, indicating that gun sales were at an all time high for the sixth month in a row.
The FBI's National Instant Background Check System processed 1,976,759 firearms related checks in October. That is a 373,290 increase in checks over last year and a new record for the month. It also makes October the sixth consecutive month to see a record number of checks.
[...]
So far in 2015 the FBI has performed 17,584,346 firearms related checks. Currently, 2015 is on pace to beat 2013's record 21,09,273 checks.

This is probably because the president is calling for his supporters to politicize gun tragedies, and change the politics on Second Amendment issues. He called on Americans who think we have a gun violence epidemic in this country to do something about how to accomplish that. In other words, it's time to vote out pro-civil rights lawmakers, and get more anti-gun legislators elected into office.
Hillary Clinton said the Australian gun buyback program is "worth considering." The problem is that the Australian model is essentially a gun ban/confiscation. Obama also cited Australia, along with the United Kingdom's gun control laws, as examples that other countries have done something to curb gun violence in his remarks after the horrific Oregon shooting last month. Again, both countries virtually have banned firearms. That isn't going to happen here. With gun control now becoming a pet issue for Democrats on the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton said she couldpossibly circumvent Congress to expand background checks. Katie wrote yesterday about her new ad pushing for more gun control and corrected the awful statistics in it.
The irony is that liberals seem to get that the more they talk about gun control, the more people stock up on guns and ammo. President Obama mentioned this during his address to the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Chicago on October 28. The speech was mostly grounded in criminal justice reform, which both Democrats and Republicans are finding agreement on, but his last bit about gun control forced him to say that he isn't looking to confiscate guns in America. I take that as a sign that our side is winning. Anytime a liberal needs to preface their gun control drivel with a â€œwe're not going to take your guns, we're for the Second Amendment, or we respect the rights of hunters," it means we've won in the court of public opinion. We've had a string of wins on the legal front since 2008's Heller decision, and I'm confident the needle on this issue isn't going to move in 2016.
So, take a bow Democrats, you've managed to keep your unconstitutional agenda stuck in the mud, while inadvertently becoming the best gun sales team so far this year.Last Note: It goes without saying -- everything Obama said about gun violence during his Umpqua Community College shooting on October 1 was wrong.